Russian President Vladimir Putin, making an annual speech last week, made bold statements about the "invincibility" of new Russian weapons that can easily overcome American missile defense systems, writes in the Washington Post's foreign policy blog, Adam Taylor.

But how much should Americans be worried? "Undoubtedly, if Putin's statements are accurate, the new Russian missiles really represent a step forward in the missile technology that existing American missile systems could not match. But there is another important detail: American missile defense systems almost certainly do not match the current Russian missiles, "the article says..

Kingston Reef, director of Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy at the Arms Control Association (USA), argues that Russia, even with existing weapons, "would not have any problems at all" in overcoming American missile defense systems. "As such, the new Putin missiles, in principle, do not change the main strategic balance with the United States," comments the author of the article.

"However, they can show the limited attempts to contain nuclear threats from countries such as Russia, and even smaller threats - from North Korea - with the help of anti-missile defense alone," Taylor writes..

"44 US interceptor missiles are deployed in Alaska and California, along with sea and land based systems in Europe and Asia. Although there are plans for a moderate increase in their numbers, experts say they represent little protection against a well-armed country such as Russia, which has the latest technology, as well as a huge number of weapons that can overcome US systems, "reads the article.

"They can not reduce Russia's ability to threaten the US territory with nuclear weapons," said Ian Williams, an expert on missile defense technologies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (Washington). - Here are the bare figures: 44 inter-missile systems in the country against 1.5 thousand. Russian nuclear warheads ".

"The big difference between the missiles that Russia already has and those announced on Thursday is that the existing missiles are ballistic, and the new ones are winged," Taylor continues..

"Ballistic missiles are launched into the atmosphere, and then, descending, hit the target, and the winged ones fly close to the surface of the Earth. The key change mentioned in Putin's speech was that Russian cruise missiles would be atomic: this would significantly increase their range and maneuverability to avoid detection, "reads the article.

"This does not mean that they can not be protected," the author notes.. Williams suggested that a radar system placed on an airplane, balloon or even in space can detect cruise missiles. "The new US missile defense policy can also give special attention to the possibilities of destroying the missile before its launch. Currently, the US does not have these capabilities, and their development will be complex and expensive, "reads the article.

"In the eyes of supporters of arms control, Russia's new weapons certainly do not change the rules of the game, but should serve as a reminder that the missile defense system in itself is unable to replace mutual understanding with Russia and other nuclear countries about the risks of nuclear war," concludes Taylor.